Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have traded blows over the influence of political donations from registered clubs on their parties' poker machine policies while in government.
Fairfax Media revealed Clubs NSW donated $20,000 to a fund-raising body supporting Abbott government frontbencher Kevin Andrews as he led formulation of the Coalition's industry-backed poker machines policy before the 2013 election.
Asked about this on Monday, Mr Abbott tried to turn the focus onto Labor by implying that the Gillard government changed its poker machines policy due to a donation from Clubs NSW.
"I notice that quite a large donation was made to the Labor Party shortly before the former Labor government reneged on the deal that it had done on poker machines with Andrew Wilkie," he said.
In January 2012, then prime minister Julia Gillard announced that she would tear up a deal with the independent MP Mr Wilkie to introduce mandatory pre-commitment for poker machines.
Mandatory pre-commitment – strongly opposed by registered clubs – forces pokie players to nominate how much they are prepared to lose before they begin gambling.
Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) records for 2011-12 show that Clubs NSW disclosed a $5000 donation to the federal campaign of the NSW division of the ALP in July 2011.
Clubs NSW then donated $44,000 to the federal ALP in April 2012.
But Mr Shorten said said Mr Abbott's argument was "absurd" and he was "clearly implying his Defence Minister's decisions are influenced by donations".
"By Mr Abbott's own argument, it's critical the Prime Minister and his Defence Minister [Mr Andrews] now explain what influence donations have on their policies."
Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the revelations about the Clubs NSW donations to the fund-raising body supporting Mr Andrews highlighted the "urgent need for campaign financing and disclosure reform".
Greens senator Lee Rhiannon called on Mr Abbott and Mr Shorten to back election funding reform before the next federal election.
Treasurer Joe Hockey defended the current system of political donations but warned the public they will end up paying for political parties to bombard them with election propaganda if private donations are curbed.
The $20,000 donation from Clubs NSW was made to the Victoria-based Menzies 200 Club in 2013.
While Clubs NSW declared the donation to electoral authorities, it nominated the Victorian Liberal Party as the recipient, which blurred the link to Mr Andrews. The Menzies 200 Club did declare the donation.
But the Menzies 200 Club failed to declare another $10,000 donation from Clubs NSW, made in June last year, for eight months after the deadline set by the AEC.
Fairfax Media does not suggest the donations directly influenced Mr Andrews' decision-making.
A spokesman for Mr Andrews has said that any suggestion Mr Andrews' decisions were influenced by the donations was "wrong and offensive".
He stressed that the Coalition had released a discussion paper on gambling reform in November 2011. The policy taken to the election varied in a minor way only from the discussion paper, he said.
Clubs NSW has denied the contributions were intended to influence Coalition gambling policy, saying they were given for "no particular purpose".
YOU DON'T SAY ...
Payments, politics and posturing
2004
"Democracy isn't cheap."
Australian Hotels Association boss John Thorpe
April 2004
No "party or individual would be prepared to sell their soul for $3000".
Then special minister of state Liberal Senator Eric Abetz
2006
"Access is power, and money brings access to politicians in our country."
Lee Rhiannon and Norman Thompson, NSW Greens
February 2008
"A few things corrupt democracy: one of them is when this stuff [political donations] goes off the rails ... There is a bunch of people in a room: at $10,000 a hit, you could easily raise $1 million in a night and no one knows where it came from. I just don't think that's all right."
Kevin Rudd
December 2008
"I've been concerned now for many years that campaign fundraising practices have the potential to degrade the public trust in the political process. There's a public perception of undue influence."
Former Labor special minister of state John Faulkner
"We can either go down the US path where they've got the best democracy money can buy, or we can actually do something that would actually make Australian democracy work, flourish much better."
Independent senator Nick Xenophon
December 2009
The ban on donations from property developers "affect many of our traditional supporters ... The bill is designed to cause maximum damage to our party and our efforts to fund an effective campaign against Labor".
Liberal NSW director Mark Neeham and finance director Arthur Sinodinos
April 2010
"I reject any assertion that my time could be bought."
Matthew Guy, Victorian Liberal planning spokesman
November 2010
"Well-heeled developers assume that their at-times substantial donations to the Labor or Liberal parties will guarantee ready access to the minister and a favourable planning decision."
Victorian Labor planning minister 2002 to 2005, Mary Delahunty
April 2014
The inquiry "will disclose a systemic failure in the way in which politicians, political parties and political campaigns are funded in NSW and how that systemic failure encourages and rewards corruption. Something must change".
Counsel assisting NSW ICAC, Geoffrey Watson, SC
July 2015
"These figures highlight how financially beholden the Greens are to the ugly side of the union movement ... if they really want to show their credentials they would return the tainted money."
Minister for Employment Eric Abetz after revelations of union donations to the Greens
